Daily Mail

Diesel slump forces Nissan to axe factory jobs

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NISSAN is poised to lay off hundreds of workers at its Sunderland plant after a dramatic slump in demand for diesel cars.

A quarter of cars made at the site, which has around 7,000 staff, have diesel engines.

The Japanese giant stressed the decision to lay off staff was ‘not related to Brexit’.

Sunderland is the biggest car manufactur­ing plant in the UK, making more than 500,000 cars a year. Nissan said yesterday that a shift to a ‘new range of powertrain­s’, including cleaner hybrids and electric engines, and a cut in production required ‘operationa­l changes’.

The Sunderland plant, which makes the Qashqai, Juke and the electric Leaf car, has cut production as demand for diesel cars has dropped. Health warnings about fumes have caused drivers to shun the vehicles – their sales slumped by 37pc last month and by 17pc last year.

The announceme­nt comes just days after Jaguar Land Rover cut 1,000 jobs from its biggest plant, in Solihull.

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